Minnesota Timberwolves fans may notice something
different about their team this year. In a league in which American-born
black players made up 75 percent of roster spots in 2011, the
Timberwolves will have an opening-day roster comprising just 33 percent
black players (five out of 15).
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, this year’s squad will be the league’s whitest since the 1980s Boston Celtics.
Is that a problem?
Some civil rights leaders in Minneapolis think so. Tyrone Terrell,
chairman of St. Paul’s African American leadership council, told the
Star-Tribune that he thinks the unbalanced roster could be seen as a
ploy by the ownership to sell the team to a majority-white fan base.
“How did we get a roster that resembles the 1955 Lakers?” Terrell
said to the Star-Tribune. “I think everything is a strategy. Nothing
happens by happenstance.”
Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn called the allegations “patently false.”
Indeed, while the team lacks as many African-American players as most
other squads, the Timberwolves are still quite diverse. Five of their
ten white players were born outside of the United States.
Brandon Roy, projected to be the team’s only black starter, says the color of his teammates doesn’t faze him.
“It’s just basketball,” Roy said. “I never really had to feel like
I’m the only black guy out here. I’ve played on teams that maybe had all
black guys and the feeling is just the same when I’m out there on the
floor playing with these guys.”
Ron Edwards, a longtime Minneapolis civil rights advocate, told the
Star-Tribune that it was “somewhat disturbing” when he saw a game last
season in which Wes Johnson was the only black player on the floor for
the Timberwolves. The composition of this season’s roster has prompted
Edwards to react even stronger.
“It raises some real questions to me about what’s really intended,”
Edwards said. “I think, personally, that it was calculated. Is this an
attempt to get fans back in the stands? Minnesota, after all, is a
pretty white state.”
Edwards added that the Timberwolves’ roster decisions are a “nullification of diversity and a reversal of history.”
Kahn said the Timberwolves targeted two black players as free agents
during the summer. But Portland matched Minnesota’s offer to Nicolas
Batum, and Jordan Hill opted to re-sign with the Lakers at less money
for a better chance to win a championship.
“What if Batum and Hill were here?” Kahn said.

Absolutely unreal. This article provides you with perfect evidence
as to why so-called “civil rights” violations cannot be taken seriously.
World Net Daily, an online publication now pushing an increasing number of pro-white pieces, added this:

A racially charged article by the Minneapolis Star
Tribune is raising eyebrows this week for suggesting the NBA’s Minnesota
Timberwolves team is not black enough.
The story, titled “Timberwolves: Pale in comparison to the rest of
the NBA,” was written by Jerry Zgoda and Dennis Brackin, and points out
the Wolves have only five black players on a 15-man team, or a 33
percent ratio.
Overall in 2011, the National Basketball Association featured American-born black players making up 78 percent of roster spots.
The paper calls this year’s Minnesota roster “the league’s whitest since the Boston Celtics teams of the 1980s.”
Local black leaders in the Twin Cities have noticed, according to the
Star Tribune, “suggesting the franchise strategically has rolled back
the calendar by decades in a league that long has been at the forefront
of diversity among America’s professional sports leagues.”
“How did we get a roster that resembles the 1955 Lakers?” Tyrone
Terrell, chairman of St. Paul’s African-American leadership council,
told the paper. “I think everything is a strategy. Nothing happens by
happenstance.”
Ron Edwards, a civil-rights advocate in Minneapolis, said he found it
“somewhat disturbing” to see only one black player, Wes Johnson, on the
floor as he watched a game last winter. He told the paper his
sentiments grew stronger as he watched the Timberwolves roster grow even
more white this offseason.
“It raises some real questions to me about what’s really intended,”
Edwards said. “I think, personally, that it was calculated. Is this an
attempt to get fans back in the stands? Minnesota, after all, is a
pretty white state.”
He added it was a “nullification of diversity and a reversal of history.”
But David Kahn, president of basketball operations for the Wolves is
crying foul, calling the suggestion of pandering to a white fan base
“patently false.”
Tuesday night, comedian Conan O’Brien clowned about the team’s
predominantly white players on his late-night TBS show, joking that “the
owner claims it’s not a ploy to win fans – it’s a ploy to lose games.”
Brandon Roy, a three-time All-Star and Minnesota’s only expected
black starter, told the paper he never noticed any racial distinction
until a friend mentioned it this summer after he signed as a free agent
with the team.
“It’s just basketball,” Roy said. “I never really had to feel like
I’m the only black guy out here. I’ve played on teams that maybe had all
black guys and the feeling is just the same when I’m out there on the
floor playing with these guys.
“The only problem we have is in the weight room, arguing over what music we’re going to listen to.”
The racial makeup of the NBA has changed dramatically over the past half-century. In 1957, 93 percent of its players were white.
The paper notes the number of blacks rose in the 1960s, even though
many believed there was an unspoken quota system among league owners
that former Celtics great Bill Russell, the NBA’s first black head
coach, once described as “you’re allowed to play two blacks at home,
three on the road and five when you’re behind.”
The Star Tribune is coming under some heavy fire from its own readers
for its article, as many claim it’s racist to suggest the team is
either too white.
A reader with a handle of “edweasel” blasted the authors of the news
report, saying, “They didn’t have a problem selling tickets when they
only had three white guys and made it to the Western Conference finals
in ’04. Same owner, same white fans. This isn’t the first time you’ve
whined about the number of white guys on the team. Sounds like you’re
trying to make a name for yourself by stirring up some controversy,
because you definitely aren’t making a name for yourself with the
quality of your writing.”
“With all of the talent and interesting story lines that this team
has to offer, you choose to write about their race?” said “nexus612.”
“Thanks for taking us back about 50 years. Like so many other basketball
fans in this state, I cannot wait to see these guys take the floor.”
And David Tengbom said, “The Wolves, for the first time in years,
have gone out and acquired excellent players that should help them reach
the playoffs. For African-American leaders to play the ‘race’ card is
ridiculous and unfortunate!”
Businesss Insider magazine has taken a look at the “white conspiracy” theory, and says there are a few problems.
“First of all, the T-Wolves sold 90.4% of their tickets last year,
which ranked 14th in the league,” reports Tony Manfred of Business
Insider. “Only two other non-playoff teams ranked in the top 15. And
they did it with a majority black roster (8 out of 15 players). So they
didn’t have an attendance problem at all.
“In addition, it’s clear that the T-Wolves think there is a market
inefficiency when it comes to international players. Five players on
their roster are from other countries, which is double the league
average (~2.5 in 2011-12). Since international players come from
predominantly European countries, developing a team with an
international focus is inherently going to shift the racial makeup of
your roster.
“It’s not a race conspiracy, it’s a calculated move to identify
under-the-radar players that the rest of the league isn’t looking at.”
Sports is not the only venue where “not black enough” has been a theme in recent years.
In 2003, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, felt that names for
hurricanes were too “lily white,” and she sought to have better
representation for names reflecting African-Americans and other ethnic
groups.
“All racial groups should be represented,” Lee said, according to the
Hill. She hoped federal weather officials “would try to be inclusive of
African-American names.”
A sampling of popular names that could be used include Keisha, Jamal and Deshawn, according to the paper.
“You know nobody’s very excited when a hurricane’s heading their way,
and yet here she is demanding that hurricanes be named after black
people,” said radio host Rush Limbaugh at the time.
“You know it used to be that hurricanes were named only after women
because they were destructive and unpredictable. And that’s the reason.
The feminists grew upset about that, demanded that hurricanes be named
after men, and so now, the civil rights leaders are demanding black
names for hurricanes.”

In case you are wondering, the NBA teams that feature an all-black
roster are not being charged with accusations of being “too black.”